Escape Wonderland
Della’s pov
In Empire Du Clubs located in a world called Rnavi, Della sits on the chair signing documents, she signs the last document with a heavy sigh. The ink smudged slightly under her fingers—yet another reminder of her endless duties. At only eighteen, the title of Empress already weighed on her shoulders like a crown of iron.
That evening, she slipped into the conference room, greeted not with smiles but with sharp stares. “Emperor Della,” Duke Dao Long began, his tone heavy. “Are you ever gonna get married?”her frown deepened, “I do not plan to, why?” “ You are 18 already, you need an emperor by your side.” “No, I do not!” she snapped, her voice rising before she could stop herself.
Auntie Dao–her best friend’s mother and one of the only people she truly trusted–laid a calming hand on the table. “Lets not change the subject,” she said gently. Her best friend’s name is Asterion Dao, but she usually calls her Aster. She moved away because of her work as a detective, but her mother (auntie Dao) stayed back to help me with Della’s duties. Being empress left no time for reading, for living, for being anything other than a ruler trapped in duty. She was suffocating. And she would not endure it any longer, she planned to run away.
But she is not gonna succeed alone, so she told Auntie Dao to help her. And being the kind Auntie she is, she agreed. That night, she slipped out the window, while Auntie Dao didn’t let anyone in. She ran as fast as she could, through the woods behind the imperial palace. She had packed carefully: a flash light, spare clothes, a sword, and a handful of coins. Everything she thought she might need. She ran into the woods, branches slapping her face, her legs burning with effort.
Hours passed.
Her breath turned ragged. Unused to running, her body finally gave out and she collapsed to her knees. When she looked up, the rays of the sun shone on her face. Hidden among the trees, stood a lonely stone well. Curiosity tugged her. Starting to approach it, she carefully put her bag down and looked inside the well.
Suddenly something or someone shoved her in, the touch was sharp, almost familiar. She gasped, reaching out–but the world tilted, and she tumbled into darkness. The fall lasted forever, stealing the air from her lungs until the spinning blackness swallowed her whole. The scene changes to the well disappearing to the unknown, her bag and stuff gone and a shadow walking away.
Della’s eyes opened as she sat up. She was in a mysterious tower, waking up on the floor made out of wood. Her back hurt when she stood up, looking around the place decorated with broken frames and doodles all around the room. Della saw a door, while trying to open the door, she noticed the doorknob was gone. She started to search the place for a doorknob and found a crooked wood piece in the floor, she snapped it in half and found a hidden doorknob.
She screwed it in the door and pulled the door open, her eyes were met with a city full of animals and weird humans talking. She saw a giant billboard with HER picture on it, her favorite songs and her biggest secrets. Confused and scared, her mind swirled with questions– about the strange world and about the shadow who had pushed her, she dismissed the thought and started to walk into the city full of wood houses. She looked back to the tower one last time before she stepped into the city, everyone looked at her with shock in their eyes. Making comments and whispering to each other. Della started to get shy and ran into a big building with a sign saying “Hotel”. Once she got inside she felt safer, but everyone in the hotel started staring at her. Della stormed to the front desk, heat rising in her chest.
“Why is everyone staring at me?” she demanded. Her voice cracked, louder than she intended. “And why–” she jabbed a finger toward the billboard– “am I up there, with my favorite songs and secrets I’ve never told anyone but Aster?” For a heartbeat the room stayed silent. Then the fox-like fairy behind the counter laughed, sharp and unexpected, shattering the stillness. “You are a famous person from the overworld that we people worship.” “What? Did I hear you right?” Della said confused, “yes, you heard me right.” She started freaking out running out of the hotel and straight into a cafe. “HEY, you don’t know who I am right?”
But the beaver said the same thing the fairy fox said. Della sat down in disbelief, rethinking everything she ever did in her life. The scene shows her past, playing with her mother while her father was working as emperor, then dying when there was a servant that went wild. She started shedding tears when she came back to her senses, Della immediately started to wipe her tears. Suddenly, a soft chime echoed through the café.
Della looked up to see a small floating orb glowing above her head. The orb pulsed with a golden light, then dropped gently onto the table, unfolding into a delicate scroll made of shimmering silk. The beaver behind the counter gasped.“You’ve been summoned,” he whispered, bowing his head.“Summoned? By who?” Della asked, feeling her heartbeat rise.“The Oracle,” the beaver said, his voice shaking. “She hasn’t summoned anyone in over a hundred years. Only those bound to the fate of Wonderland are called.” Before Della could respond, the scroll spoke in a melodic voice:“To the Seeker from the Overworld,Your presence has awakened the sleeping cycle.Come to the Clockwork Garden at dusk. Time is unraveling.” Then it vanished in a puff of silver smoke. Della sat frozen. Clockwork Garden? Oracle? Sleeping cycle? Nothing made sense.
But one thing was clear: this world knew her—too well and someone from her past, someone who knew her secrets, must’ve sent her here. She clenched her fists, standing up with new resolve. “Fine. If they want me, I’ll find them first. But I’m going to get answers.” She left the café, heading toward the unknown. Della followed the twisting path to the Clockwork Garden, just like the scroll had told her. The sun was low now, casting gold and purple light over the strange land. Every step echoed with soft ticks, like the ground itself was a giant clock.
The garden gates were tall and rusted. When Della pushed them open, a wave of cold air brushed against her skin. Inside, vines moved like gears. Trees had silver leaves shaped like watch hands. In the center of the garden stood a glass dome glowing with soft light. And floating inside it—A heart-shaped crystal. Della stared. It pulsed with light… like it was alive. Like it was waiting for her. But just as she took a step, a voice rang out:“Only the true ruler may take the Heart Key.”
Della froze. Suddenly, the garden shifted. The plants stopped moving. The ticking stopped. Everything went quiet. Then, right in front of her, a tall figure appeared. It looked just like her. Same hair. Same face. Same voice. But something felt wrong.“I am Empress Della,” the copy said calmly. Della’s heart dropped.“No. You’re not,” she whispered. The copy stepped closer, smiling coldly.“The Heart Key will choose between us. Only one of us can leave this garden.”
Della backed away, confused and angry. Was this a trick? A test? Or something else? Suddenly, it clicked. This wasn’t just part of the trial. Someone was trying to replace her in the overworld. Someone who looked like her. Someone who wanted her gone. She didn’t know how yet—but deep down, Della understood. This wasn’t just Wonderland’s magic. This was a warning. She has a feeling that it was the same person that pushed her down the well, someone who knew she was going to run away. The copy suddenly vanished and it said “Find the Heart Key before Seraphina Chamberlain does. She is a living dead wanting to find the heart key to go to the overworld. We still do not know what she wants but we know it’s not good.” and with that, the oracle vanished just like how her copy did.
But this time, it dropped a map to where she has to go next to find the hidden Heart key. NEXT STOP : The land of Isnard, home to the quietest place where Horemheb Isnard lurks. Note : be as quiet as you can, Horemheb doesn’t like noise while he is sleeping. Della shivered in fear, she did not want to go there, but for the sake of her and her empire, She started her journey.
The path was not long, she just had to go straight, left, right, then straight again. But because of her poor map skills, she ended up lost in the middle of the woods since she was always accompanied by a soldier or carried in a carriage.
A little dragon suddenly fell from the sky, it startled Della when she ate a snack she stole from the cafe. The little dragon woke up when she was just about to cook him, the little dragon shouted “PLEASE SPARE ME, I’LL HELP YOU!” Della shrugged, but then realized that she was lost, “Alright, but you have to show me the way to the land of Isnard.” Della said with a smug look on her face. “YEAH I’LL DO THAT JUST LET ME GO!” The little dragon said scared and panicked. She let the little dragon go and asked him his name, “my name is Xiao, please don’t cook me” said Xiao still terrified from the scene before.
“So, you want to go to the land of Isnard ? Why do you want to go there?”Della hesitated before answering “ Could I trust you?” “You need to tell me before we go there, since I don’t know if you’re gonna put me as bait or not” Xiao reacted. “Fine, 'm going there because i need to find the Heart Key so i can get out of wonderland to get to the overworld. I’m an empress, can you not tell?” Della finally told Xiao why, and Xiao’s reaction was not as she was expecting, he laughed so hard that he couldn’t breath. “SO YOU ARE TELLING ME, THAT YOU ARE THE PERSON WHO LOSES EVERY SINGLE THING SHE HOLDS????” Della was embarrassed and threatened Xiao if he kept laughing, she would cook him, that immediately made Xiao stop laughing. When they finally reached the land of Isnard, both made no sound when entering, she just needed to pass by Horemheb and his land then she was on the way to the next stop.She crept forward, the crunch of glass beneath her boots echoing too loudly. Empty closets loomed on either side, and treasure chests glittered faintly in the torchlight . The land was full of closets that had nothing inside. Xiao suddenly knocked over a coin from one of the treasure chests that were kept, and suddenly all of the fire on the torches went out. The ground started glowing bright blue as a sound of creaking could be heard, the monster rose up off the ground. Horemheb. It has dark blue skin colour and had a tall but skinny feature, its face was full of ears. Della could tell he was blind since she was right in front of him,covering both her mouth and Xiao’s mouth. It started to wander around looking for the intruder, not knowing that Della was already in the exit trying to open the door. The door was locked by two passwords, one was a four digit number code, and the other was a fingerprint that looks like Horemheb’s toe print . All were hidden in the land. Della shot Xiao with a glare that promised punishment later. Silently, she slipped into the shadows, scanning the walls and floors for anything useful. An odd book caught her eye–its red cover marked with the number(1). She flipped through blank pages until the very last one revealed a single digit : 4. A code.Heart pounding, she darted into the corridor, hunting for more books before the monster could hear her. In that hall, she found a book that had a green cover with the number (4) on it. The book had the number 7 on the back page. Della went to the next corridor and found another book! After finding all four books, she put the code in “4867” and unlocked the first password. Now she has to get Horemheb’s toe print. She looked around and after finding a bag of flour and a giant tape, she had a plan. Della would scatter the flour on the floor and lure him in, then Horemheb would step on the flour, pass by, then she would take the giant tape to take the toe print. She did just that by luring him with a whistle she found in one of the treasure chests, unlocking the second password and escaping to the next stop. Della looked at the map, finding where to go next. NEXT STOP : DIVE . She started her journey to DIVE, the note said it was a place to swim and she really needed to exercise after all that drama. She arrived in front of a cave flooded with water, and Della found diving gears near the cave. “Hmm, it’s alright if I borrowed these right?” thought Della with a happy face. She took the diving gears and gave one to Xiao. After putting it on with much difficulty, she dived in. The next scene shows a girl swimming in the water, but this is not some normal girl, it was like she knew the place very well. Not long after Della and Xiao started exploring, the diving gears they used started to turn into bubbles. Making both Xiao and Della panic, they tried to swim back to the surface. The diving gear dissolved into steams of bubbles, vanishing from her hands. Panic surged. Water pressed against her lungs. She shut her eyes, bracing for the burn– . But it never came. She inhaled. Cool water flowed through her chest like air. Her eyes snapped open. The cave around her blazed with colour : glowing plants, darting fish, endless blue. She could breathe. She could see. Della looked at Xiao panicking, she opened Xiao’s eyes. He got angry and started screaming at her, but then he also realized that they could breath, speak, and see underwater. But Della heard a weird sound like someone was talking, it is currently 4 am in the morning. It felt odd that someone was diving at this time, especially because they were coming in the direction from the deeper parts of the water cave. Della took Xiao’s hand, she swam behind a rock and gave Xiao a sign to be quiet. Two girls swam past them, talking to each other like it was normal. But stopped midway, they started approaching the place Della and Xiao hid in . The girls found them and screamed “OMG HII, WE HAVEN’T HAD A VISITOR IN SOOOO LONG!” Both Xiao and Della were confused. The girls introduced themselves as Julia and Anh, and they escorted them to a place. A few minutes from the place they were before, It was beautiful, special types of plants and flowers growing, buildings made of stone and decorated by colourful corals, glowing lanterns without fires, and so much more. Della and Xiao just needed to pass by, but they couldn’t help but explore first. The creatures living there were similar to humans but with little fins and gills on their ears, forehand, thighs and feet. But some are actually humans, animals such as fish,squid,and other sea animals. Della and Xiao first explored the library, it was small outside, but HUGE inside. The books were made out of leaves and some sort of special ink, there were about thousands of books. But Della only could read so many, they then went to a shop selling shells and pearls. There was no currency, creatures traded stuff from the outside world. Boots are worth a few pearls and pillows are worth a hundred pearls. Della had a few things, she had a piece of bread that was in a bag so it wasn’t wet. The people started to swim around Della while she was holding the bread she got from her bag. “Wow! Where did you get that? far away?” She realized that they never went into the town before since it was too far from the cave they live in and they never knew it existed. Della sold the bread for some clothing and decided it was time to leave, she started to look for Xiao and found him eating water food. When they were just about to leave,. A shadow slid across the coral-lit walls, blocking Della’s path. She froze, clutching Xiao’s arm.Out of the glowing water stepped a tall woman draped in strands of pearl and seaweed. Her eyes shimmered like molten silver, unblinking and sharp.“You shouldn’t be here,” the woman said, her voice rippling like waves.Della narrowed her eyes. “And who are you supposed to be?”“Guardian Nerida,” the woman replied. “Protector of Dive. Outsiders are forbidden from touching the Heart’s waters—yet you’ve already taken a breath of it.”Xiao stammered, “We—we didn’t mean to! Our gear dissolved, we thought we were going to drown—” Nerida’s expression didn’t soften. She drifted closer, circling them like a shark. “Breathing our water means you are marked. The Oracle must have sent you.”At the mention of the Oracle, Della’s pulse quickened. “You know about her?”For the first time, Nerida smiled—though it wasn’t kind. “The Oracle whispers of seekers who will either save Wonderland… or break it. If you truly are one of them, you must prove yourself.” She lifted a hand, and the waters around them shimmered, revealing a narrow tunnel leading deeper into darkness. The current pulsed with an almost heartbeat-like rhythm.“Beyond this passage lies the Abyssal Mirror,” Nerida said. “Face what hides inside it, and you may leave Dive. Fail, and the sea will keep you.”Della swallowed hard, glancing at Xiao. He looked like he wanted to swim the other way entirely. But Della clenched her fists. She had already fallen down a well, faced a monster with ears for eyes, and escaped death more than once. She wasn’t going to turn back now.“Fine,” she said, forcing her voice steady. “Take me to the Mirror”. silver eyes gleamed. “Very well, Empress of the Overworld. Let us see what truth the water reveals.”And with a flick of her hand, the current swept Della and Xiao into the tunnel of shadows.The current dragged Della and Xiao deeper into the tunnel until the coral light behind them faded and only a soft blue glow pulsed ahead, drawing them closer to the Abyssal Mirror. When they emerged into a vast cavern, the water stilled unnaturally and in the center stood a mirror taller than any palace door, its surface rippling like liquid silver. Della’s reflection stared back at her but its eyes were hollow, its expression twisted in a mocking smile. The mirror suddenly rippled and her reflection stepped out, solid and alive, whispering in a voice that sounded exactly like hers, “You are weak, a child playing empress, running away instead of ruling. You don’t deserve the Heart Key.” Della clenched her fists and shook her head but the reflection laughed, its face shifting to her mother’s, then her father’s, their voices layering together to say, “You failed us, Della, just as you’ll fail Wonderland.” The weight of their words crushed against her chest and for a moment she believed them, sinking into despair, but then Xiao shouted, muffled through the water, “Don’t listen! That’s not real—it’s just the mirror twisting you!” Della’s heart flared with anger; she wasn’t weak, she wasn’t going to be replaced, not by shadows or lies. She swam straight toward the reflection, pushing through the suffocating doubts, and slammed her hand against the mirror’s surface. The water around it shattered like glass, the false Della dissolving into silver dust that swirled away into the abyss. The cavern lit up with streaks of golden light and the mirror melted into a crystal shard shaped like a teardrop, glowing softly in Della’s palm. Nerida’s voice echoed through the chamber, calm but edged with awe, “You have passed. The Abyssal Mirror has accepted you.” Della tightened her grip on the shard, her resolve burning stronger than before. She didn’t just want to escape Wonderland anymore—she wanted answers, power, and the truth. Xiao swam to her side, trembling but grinning with relief. “Please don’t make me go through anything like that again,” he muttered, and Della almost laughed, though her eyes stayed fixed on the shard, knowing this was only the beginning of harder trials ahead. LAST STOP: Solsul’ka . Sosul’ka is a village in a giant ice land, they live in the freezing cold. The note said: “Find the Archon of Sosul’ka, she will tell you what you have to do next” Xiao curiously asked “ Whats an Archon?” “a god who rules over a nation of the world of Wonderland”The journey to Solsul’ka was harsher than anything Della had faced before. The air grew colder with every step, frost crawling across her sleeves until her breath became clouds in the air. Xiao shivered, his wings stiff with ice. “Why couldn’t the next stop be a volcano instead?” he whined.Before long, the world around them turned white. Mountains loomed like jagged teeth, and the ground was buried under endless snow. In the distance, Della spotted glowing pillars of ice that pierced the sky. “That must be Solsul’ka,” she whispered.As they entered the frozen village, everything was silent. No laughter. No footsteps. Just the howl of the wind. The houses were carved purely from ice, glowing faintly as if it were alive. At the center of the village stood a statue of a woman cloaked in frost, her eyes carved from sapphire.Then, the statue moved. Cracks of light spread across the ice as the figure stepped down, towering and regal. Her hair was snow-white, her skin pale as the moon, and her presence chilled the air even further.“I am Archon Sylvara,” she said, her voice like breaking icicles. “You seek the Heart Key, Empress of the Overworld.”Della swallowed, gripping the shard she had taken from Dive. “Yes. The Oracle sent me.”Sylvara’s gaze sharpened. “The Heart Key is not merely a weapon or a crown. It chooses who will shape both Wonderland and the Overworld. To claim it, you must pass the Trial of Frost.”Xiao groaned. “Another trial? Can’t she just hand it over for once?”Sylvara ignored him, raising her hand. The snow beneath their feet cracked open, revealing a staircase of glowing ice that spiraled downward into darkness.“Beneath Solsul’ka lies the Chamber of Silence. In it sleeps the Frost Wyrm, guardian of forgotten truths. You must enter, awaken it, and survive its judgment. Only then will you be worthy.”Della’s chest tightened. A dragon… a wyrm. She looked at Xiao, who looked ready to faint.“I’m not going down there,” he whispered.“Yes, you are,” Della said firmly.Together, they descended into the ice. The deeper they went, the quieter the world became, until even their breaths made no sound. Their footsteps vanished into silence. It was suffocating—like sound itself had been stolen.At the bottom lay a cavern of blue crystal. And coiled at its heart was the Frost Wyrm—a serpent of ice and shadow, larger than any palace tower. Its body pulsed with frozen veins of light. Its head lifted slowly, eyes like two frozen moons.A voice filled their minds, soft yet terrible:“Who are you to disturb my slumber?”Della forced herself not to tremble. I am Empress Della of the Overworld. I seek the Heart Key to protect both my empire and Wonderland.The Wyrm uncoiled, towering above her. Its breath was a storm of snow.“Words are fragile. Only deeds remain. Show me what kind of ruler you are.”Suddenly, the chamber split into illusions. Della stood back in her empire’s throne room, watching her people beg for help—starving families, soldiers demanding war, nobles fighting for power. Their cries echoed, overwhelming her.“Choose,” the Wyrm’s voice rumbled. “Feed your people and anger the nobles. Side with the nobles and starve the people. Or go to war and risk all lives. What kind of empress will you be?”Her heart pounded. No choice was right. But she knew one thing: she wouldn’t abandon her people to silence.“I won’t choose between them,” she said fiercely. “I’ll find another way.”The illusion shattered like glass. The Frost Wyrm’s eyes blazed. Then, slowly, it lowered its massive head.“You have chosen defiance. That is the mark of a true ruler.”Its chest cracked open, revealing a glowing shard of ice shaped like a key. The Wyrm placed it in Della’s hands.“The second piece of the Heart Key is yours. But beware… Seraphina Chamberlain hunts you still. And when the last shard awakens, she will strike.”The Wyrm dissolved into snow, leaving only silence and the shard’s glow.Xiao nudged Della’s arm nervously. “I don’t like how he said that. She’s waiting for us.”Della tightened her grip on the shard. “Then let her. I’m ready.”When they climbed back to the surface, Archon Sylvara awaited them. For the first time, her icy expression softened.“You carry the Frost’s blessing. But the final trial awaits… in the place where Wonderland itself was born.”She raised her hand, and the snow parted to reveal a glowing path stretching into the distance. The third and last piece of the heart key is with Seraphina, and if you forgot, she is the living dead that wants to go to the overworld. None of the wonderland people should EVER and i mean EVER go to the overworld, it’s just not the place for them… . Della and Xiao marched to the door ready to fight Sera (Seraphina Chamberlain) “I’ve been waiting for this moment” Sera said holding her sword. “Xiao, back of. It’s not safe for you to be too close” Della gripped the sword that she got from the sword display hard. There was a person in front of the portal, and in the middle of Della and Sera. He said “3, 2,” the tension rose “One,”. Sera launched forward, startling Della. But she managed to block it with her sword. Della was trained to use a sword, she knew there was a possibility to defeat her. Their swords clashed while Xiao was mesmerized. Knowing full well that it could end up in a tie, Xiao cheered her on, she used all her power to try and push back Sera and manage to knock back Sera’s sword. Her sword was now on the ground, Della should’ve won. When she realized, Xiao congratulated her looking like he was four. She let down her guard once, but then Sera attacked her with her hand. Grabbing her hair and strangling her, Xiao suddenly blow out fire to Sera, and she backed off. Della won the key! She put all the locks together, it opened the portal. “The portal won’t last long, quick go!” the man said. Della looked at Xiao, he looked sad to see her go. She made up her mind, Della took Xiao by the stomach and jumped in the portal. It was very dizzy but they made it back to the overworld, at least for Della! Back in wonderland, everyone panicked because a wonderlandian went to the overworld. Della regained consciousness and saw a scene she would never forget.
THE END
Or is it?
